To:A. G. SHLYAPNIKOV

Written:Written January 3, 1915Published:First published in 1924 inLenin Miscellany II.

      Sent from Berne to Copenhagen.

      Printed from the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,[1977],

      Moscow,Volume 43,

      pages443-444a.Translated:Martin Parker and Bernard IsaacsTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      (2005).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

DearFriend,

Ireceived your two letters with the news of your departure.

Thearguments you have advanced against my supposition (about the
possibility of your not going to Copenhagen, not leaving Stockholm) have
fully convinced me. I see that I have overlooked a really very important
circumstance. If I have offended you, I am prepared to tender my voluble
apologies and earnestly ask you to forget it.

Thevillage[1]is really far more dangerous now (and in convenient for the work)
than the town.

Generallyspeaking, the situation now is such that the fight against
tsarism calls for the utmost care—especially as regards the preservation
of reserves. To expend still more forces (soon after ourimmeasurablelosses) would mean weakening ourselves completely for
the moment of more decisive actions against tsarism. Therefore I ask you
most earnestly to double and triple secrecy precautions and
1)eithernot go beyond asking for somebody to be sent to Sweden,
2)orconfine yourself to the briefest of visits. I would ask you
earnestly to confine yourself to the former and not make the latter (if
there is the slightest possibility of not doing so).

Itwould be better not to go to the conference (16/I) of the
Scandinavians. Grigory and I have just discussed this for the umpteenth
time. The Swiss are not going. That means there is an obvious intrigue of
the Germans and Troelstra+Branting. They will try their hardest to muddle
things up andwill not allow you to make your Swedish
speech. Unless there is anabsoluteguarantee that you will be
allowed to makesucha speech, you had better not go
altogether. We should send (through Litvinov)
α) a complete translation of our manifesto,
β) a translation of the government’s report concerning the arrest of
the R.S.D.L. group in the Duma—and all this to be sent not as a rapport,
not as an account (so that it should not appear as if werecognisethe conference), but as acommunication.

Wishingyou all the very, very best. The utmostcareand sans
rancune, n’est-ce pas?

Yours,Lenin

[1]MeaningSweden.—Ed.